Chapter 12: Night Change

Wang Yu had a splitting headache. The "Heavenly Yin" mentioned here didn't refer to the Taiyin Moon essence, but a lower-grade Yin spiritual energy. As for corpse energy, it could only be found in burial grounds, such as mass graves, or even on zombies themselves.

The external environment was not up to standard.

He couldn't cultivate at all; he could only comprehend.

Su Zhenchuan and Steward Duan truly thought highly of him. It was no wonder that the placement slot allowed him to cultivate every minute. After all, to put it simply, the method involved transforming oneself by borrowing Yin energy and corpse energy.

The secret technique served as a guide, preventing cultivators from suddenly dying or truly transforming into zombies.

"With insufficient external conditions, it seems I can only rely on the placement slot to meet the prerequisites."

The placement slot was originally meant to cultivate on his behalf. Ice Sword Art was a pure spell, bringing him complete comprehension, practical experience, and even muscle memory.

The Blood Burning Art brought him insight into cultivation methods and extra cultivation base, as if he had cultivated it himself. It was as effortless as moving a finger, with no difference whatsoever!

As for the Corpse Demon Secret Technique—

It was a secret art focused on transformation. Reattaching severed limbs was one part, and physical body modification was another. This implied that as Wang Yu fully comprehended the technique, his body would also undergo a synchronized transformation. This conjecture aligned with how the placement slot had always functioned.

"It's a rare find to uncover such a drawback!"

This realization had both good and bad aspects. If not fully addressed, these drawbacks would inevitably emerge over time. However, if he were to use the placement slot's capabilities to complete the technique, it would have to be based on the premise of having no further progress to make.

By then, his body would have already been transformed, and only then would he begin to complete the secret art. Wang Yu himself couldn't predict what specific variables might arise.

"Power..."

A cold glint flashed in his eyes. He decided to wait longer. With the current number of spirit slaves in the stone house district, it would be too difficult for him to turn the tide. He needed to bring in more people for any chance of change.

This wait lasted another ten days.

Day fifty-three of his spirit slave life.

A new batch of people from the Taihu Spirit Domain, just like them initially, timidly arrived at the Inverse Spirit Blood Sect. All of them possessed inferior spiritual roots and crippled spiritual roots, and their numbers had tripled, totaling over three hundred.

Though it seemed like a considerable number, it was merely a drop in the bucket. Steward Liu was becoming increasingly dominant within the spirit slave hierarchy, making it impossible for Wang Yu to recruit people as he had in the past.

Just those few Qi Condensation Level Two spirit slaves who had their severed limbs reattached in time would keep a close eye on him.

Indeed.

Wang Yu's left hand was completely ruined, yet the three instigators who caused the incident had an arm and a leg saved due to timely treatment. How ironic.

As long as they were alive, Steward Duan, whom Wang Yu relied on, would have no credibility. Who would be willing to pay the price of burning their lifespan to help someone incapable gain a chance to be promoted to an outer disciple?

All those promises were merely empty assurances, and no one would believe them.

Once the explanation and lecture session began, the spirit slaves would communicate and everything would become known. While this new batch couldn't solve the root cause of the problem, they could help Wang Yu regain his footing. This was crucial and couldn't be delayed until the next day.

Thinking of this.

Late at night, when everything was quiet.

In the stone house district, apart from the outer disciples on duty, everyone else had fallen asleep. The iron bars of Stone House Number 83 quietly opened.

This thing could at most hold some prospective spirit slaves who hadn't yet entered cultivation. Anyone who had truly broken through to Qi Condensation Level One could bend them with a mere wisp of spiritual energy.

Its symbolic meaning outweighed its practical purpose.

Furthermore, being deep within the Inverse Spirit Blood Sect, at the bottom of Cold Blood Peak, it was difficult for even Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators, let alone Qi Condensation cultivators, to escape.

The stone house district functioned like a human-shaped spirit stone mine. It was heavily guarded externally but lax internally, not as tightly monitored as one might imagine.

Wang Yu lifted the bars from the bottom, bent down, and moved out.

His gaze darted around nervously as he quickly moved along the wall to the vicinity of the stone house belonging to the three instigators.

With a thought, his perfected Ice Sword Art could now break free from the constraints of its original form, changing shape to some extent according to Wang Yu's will.

Ice swords, each as thick as a finger, quickly formed.

They swirled densely in his palm, like a dancing cold wind, wild and rampant.

In a flick of a finger, continuous piercing sounds echoed in the dark stone house, falling completely silent in less than a breath, with heartbeats and breathing ceasing entirely.

Wang Yu couldn't help but look up at the night sky—a moonless night.

"Next."

The next day.

The outer disciple responsible for distributing food walked past the door as usual. He kicked Wang Yu's bars and called out a few times.

"Hey, time for breakfast."

Wang Yu, shriveled on his bed, looking aged with completely white hair and a severed arm, quickly got up, appearing as if he wanted to explain himself.

But the person distributing food spat in disgust.

"Oh, it's just an old geezer. What rotten luck!"

"Thump—"

With just a light kick, a clear dent appeared on the iron bars, and the person swaggered away.

Only then did Wang Yu revert to his normal demeanor, placing the cloth bag filled with steamed buns and a water pouch by his bedside.

In the Demonic Path, power was the ultimate truth. However, sometimes leveraging rules was also a reasonable strategy. Whether righteous or demonic, any established force would have its own regulations.

Even if they were flawed, they were still rules.

Essentially, adhering to the rules of the Inverse Spirit Blood Sect meant adhering to the Sect Master's rules.

Many might flout the rules, but if caught, they would face severe consequences and be unable to escape punishment.

Spirit slaves were the private property of Cold Blood Peak. Nominally, they belonged to the Cold Blood Peak Master, who was a Nascent Soul True Monarch!

However, that individual disdained such small gains, tacitly allowing it to be a source of income for the True Disciples. But if this arrangement were exposed, whether for the sake of reputation or upholding rules,

the person who profited from it would not be spared. How dare someone be so greedy as to steal from a Nascent Soul expert? Did they want to usurp the Sect Master's position too?!!

Wang Yu's method of exposure was rather clumsy, but it coincidentally required a few deaths, so he chose these three individuals. It was a strategy of killing three birds with one stone.

Whether true or false, the True Disciple behind Steward Liu was in seclusion cultivating to form his Core, and wouldn't emerge anytime soon.

If they could use the excuse of offending the Cold Blood Peak Master to strip him of his chance to receive the Nascent Soul inheritance, the other nine True Disciples would all act.

He merely seized the opportune moment and offered a flimsy excuse.

No matter how untenable it was, the True Disciples all knew that the Peak Master himself had tacitly approved the matter, but the inner and outer disciples of Cold Blood Peak did not.

Whether the True Disciples intended to use legitimate means to contend for it or resorted to insidious methods to disrupt his Core Formation, as long as it could prevent him from obtaining the inheritance, they would definitely do it!

As the saying goes: "The bystanders see clearly, while those involved are confused."

He chose a less than perfect opening, and now it remained to be seen if these True Disciples dared to seize this opportunity and tacitly join forces.

Wang Yu had to admit that there was an element of gambling involved.

In case of failure, he had also prepared a fallback: implicating Steward Duan.

He was even prepared to drag in "Big Brother" Su Zhenchuan. Once the matter escalated, he would merely be a pawn.

Others would naturally lean towards the conjecture that someone was instigating him from behind.

Soon after.

The stone house district erupted in chaos!